Latest / Philosophy and Faith / 25 - Upon our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount, Discourse V - Sermons on Several Occasions

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25 - Upon our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount, Discourse V - Sermons on Several Occasions · Philosophy and Faith

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Speaker 1: Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount Discourse five. Think
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Speaker 1: not that I am come to destroy the.
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Speaker 2: Law or the prophets.
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Speaker 1: I am not come to.
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Speaker 2: Destroy, but to fulfill.
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Speaker 1: For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth
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Speaker 1: pass one jot or one tittle, shall in no wise
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Speaker 1: pass from the law.
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Speaker 2: Till all be fulfilled.
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Speaker 1: Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments and
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Speaker 1: shall teach men, so he shall be called the least
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Speaker 1: in the Kingdom of Heaven. But whosoever shall do and
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Speaker 1: teach them, the same shall be called great in the
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Speaker 1: Kingdom of Heaven. For verily I say unto you that
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Speaker 1: except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes
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Speaker 1: and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the
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Speaker 1: Kingdom of Heaven. Matthew five seventeen to twenty. Among the
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Speaker 1: multitude of reproaches which fell upon him, who was despised
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Speaker 1: and rejected of men, it could not fail to be
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Speaker 1: one that he was a teacher of novelties and introducer
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Speaker 1: of a new religion. This might be affirmed with the
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Speaker 1: more color because many of the expressions he had used
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Speaker 1: were not common among the Jews. Either they did not
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Speaker 1: use them at all, or not in the same sense,
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Speaker 1: not in so full and strong a meaning. Add to
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Speaker 1: this that the worshiping God in spirit and in truth
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Speaker 1: must always appear a new religion to those who have
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Speaker 1: hitherto known nothing but outside worship nothing but the form
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Speaker 1: of Godliness. And it is not improbable. Some might hope
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Speaker 1: it was so that he was abolishing the old religion
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Speaker 1: and bringing in another one, which they might flatter themselves,
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Speaker 1: would be an easier way to heaven. But our Lord
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Speaker 1: refutes in these words both the vain hopes of the
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Speaker 1: one and the groundless calumnies of the other. I shall
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Speaker 1: consider them in the same order as they lie, taking
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Speaker 1: each for a distinct head or discourse. And first think
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Speaker 1: not that I am come to destroy the law or
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Speaker 1: the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to
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Speaker 1: fulfill the ritual or ceremonial law delivered by Moses to
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Speaker 1: the children of Israel, containing all the injunctions and ordinances
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Speaker 1: which related to the old sacrifices and service of the Temple.
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Speaker 1: Our Lord indeed did come to destroy, to dissolve, and
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Speaker 1: utterly abolish. To this bear all the apostles witness, not
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Speaker 1: only Barnabas and Paul, who vehemently withstood those who taught
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Speaker 1: that Christians ought to keep the Law of Moses, Acts
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Speaker 1: fifteen five. Not only Saint Peter who termed the insisting
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Speaker 1: on this on the observance of the ritual law a
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Speaker 1: tempting God, and putting a yoke upon the neck of
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Speaker 1: the disciples, which neither our fathers saith he nor we
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Speaker 1: were able to bear. All the apostles, elders and brethren
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Speaker 1: being assembled with one accord, Acts fifteen twenty two, declared
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Speaker 1: that to command them to keep this law was to
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Speaker 1: subvert their souls, and that it seemed good to the
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Speaker 1: Holy Ghost and to them to lay no such burden
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Speaker 1: upon them Acts fifteen twenty eight. This handwriting of ordinances,
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Speaker 1: our Lord did blot out, take away and nail to
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Speaker 1: his cross. But the moral law, contained in the Ten
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Speaker 1: Commandments and enforced by the prophets, he did not take away.
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Speaker 1: It was not the design of his coming to revoke
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Speaker 1: any part of this. This is a law which never
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Speaker 1: can be broken, which stands fast as the faithful witness
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Speaker 1: in heaven. The moral stands on an entirely different foundation
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Speaker 1: from the ceremonial or ritual law, which was only designed
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Speaker 1: for a temporary restraint upon a disobedient and stiff necked people.
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Speaker 2: Whereas this was from.
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Speaker 1: The beginning of the world, being written not on tables
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Speaker 1: of stone, but on the hearts of all the children
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Speaker 1: of men, when they came out of the hands of
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Speaker 1: the Creator. And however, the letters once wrote by the
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Speaker 1: finger of God are now in a great measure defaced
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Speaker 1: by sin.
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Speaker 2: Yet can they not wholly be blotted out? While we have.
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Speaker 1: Any consciousness of good and evil? Every part of this
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Speaker 1: law must remain in force upon all mankind and in
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Speaker 1: all ages, as not depending either on time or place,
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Speaker 1: or any other circumstances liable to change, but on the
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Speaker 1: nature of God and the nature of man, and their
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Speaker 1: unchangeable relation to each other. I am not come to destroy,
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Speaker 1: but to fulfill. Some have conceived our Lord to mean.
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Speaker 1: I am come to fulfill this by my entire and
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Speaker 1: perfect obedience to it. And it cannot be doubted. But
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Speaker 1: He did, in this sense fulfill every part of it.
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Speaker 1: But this that does not appear to be what he
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Speaker 1: intends here, being foreign to the scope of his present discourse.
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Speaker 1: Without question, his meaning in this place is consistently with
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Speaker 1: all that goes before and follows after, I am come
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Speaker 1: to establish it in its fullness, in spite of all
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Speaker 1: the glosses of men, I am come to place in
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Speaker 1: a full and clear view whatsoever was dark or obscure therein.
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Speaker 1: I am come to declare the true and full import
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Speaker 1: of every part of it, to show the length and breath,
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Speaker 1: the entire extent of every commandment contained therein, and the
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Speaker 1: height and depth the inconceivable purity and spirituality of it
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Speaker 1: in all its branches. And this our Lord has abundantly
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Speaker 1: performed in the preceding and subsequent parts of this discourse
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Speaker 1: before us, in which he has not introduced a new
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Speaker 1: religion into the world, but the same which was from
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Speaker 1: the beginning a religion, the substance of which which is
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Speaker 1: without question as old as the creation, being coeval with man,
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Speaker 1: and having proceeded from God at the very time when
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Speaker 1: man became a living soul. The substance, I say, for
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Speaker 1: some circumstances of it now relate to man as a
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Speaker 1: fallen creature, a religion witnessed to both by the law
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Speaker 1: and by the prophets in all succeeding generations. Yet was
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Speaker 1: it never so fully explained, nor so thoroughly understood, till
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Speaker 1: the great author of it himself condescended to give mankind
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Speaker 1: this authentic comment on all the essential branches of it,
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Speaker 1: at the same time declaring it should never be changed,
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Speaker 1: but remain in force to the end of the world.
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Speaker 1: For verily I say unto you a solemn preface which
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Speaker 1: denotes both the importance and certainty of what is spoken.
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Speaker 1: Till heaven and earth pass one jot or one tittle,
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Speaker 1: shall in no wise pass from thee law till all
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Speaker 1: be fulfilled one jot. It is literally not one iota,
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Speaker 1: not the most inconsiderable vowel, or one tittle mia kiah
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Speaker 1: one corner or point of a consonant. It is a
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Speaker 1: proverbial expression which signifies that no one commandment contained in
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Speaker 1: the moral law, or the least part of anyone, however
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Speaker 1: inconsiderable it might seem, should ever be disannulled, shall in
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Speaker 1: no wise pass from the law. Oh may par althee
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Speaker 1: appo to no mo The double negative here used strengthens
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Speaker 1: the sense so as to admit of no contradiction, and
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Speaker 1: the word parolthae, it may be observed, is not barely
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Speaker 1: future declaring what will be, but has likewise the force
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Speaker 1: of an imperative ordering what shall be. It is a
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Speaker 1: word of authority, expressing the sovereign will and power of
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Speaker 1: Him that spake of Him whose word is the law
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Speaker 1: of heaven and earth, and stands fast forever and ever.
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Speaker 1: One jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass
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Speaker 1: till heaven and earth pass, or, as it is expressed
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Speaker 1: immediately after hughes On Ponta GENETI, till all, or rather
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Speaker 1: all things be fulfilled, till the consummation of all things.
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Speaker 1: Here is therefore no room for that poor evasion with
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Speaker 1: which some have delighted themselves greatly, that no part of
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Speaker 1: the Law was to pass away till all the Law
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Speaker 1: was fulfilled. But it has been fulfilled by Christ, and
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Speaker 1: therefore now must pass for the Gospel to be established.
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Speaker 1: Not so, the word all does not mean all the law,
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Speaker 1: but all things in the universe, as neither has the
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Speaker 1: term fulfilled any reference to the law, but to all
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Speaker 1: things in heaven and earth. From all this we may
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Speaker 1: learn that there is no no contrarity at all between
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Speaker 1: the Law and the Gospel, that there is no need
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Speaker 1: for the law to pass away. In order to the
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Speaker 1: establishing of the Gospel. Indeed, neither of them supersedes the other,
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Speaker 1: but they agree perfectly well together. Yea, the very same words,
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Speaker 1: considered in different respects, are parts both of the Law
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Speaker 1: and of the Gospel. If they are considered as commandments,
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Speaker 1: they are parts of the Law. If as promises of
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Speaker 1: the Gospel, Thus thou shalt love the Lord thy God
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Speaker 1: with all thy heart, when considered as a commandment, is
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Speaker 1: a branch of the Law. When regarded as a promise,
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Speaker 1: is an essential part of the Gospel, the Gospel being
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Speaker 1: no other than the commands of the Law proposed by
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Speaker 1: way of promises. Accordingly, poverty of spirit, purity of heart,
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Speaker 1: and whatever else is enjoined in the Holy Law of
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Speaker 1: God are no other, when viewed in a Gospel light,
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Speaker 1: than so many great and precious promises. There is therefore,
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Speaker 1: the closest connection that can be conceived between the Law
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Speaker 1: and the Gospel. On the one hand, the Law continually
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Speaker 1: makes way for and points us to the Gospel. On
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Speaker 1: the other, the Gospel continually leads us to a more
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Speaker 1: exact fulfilling of the Law. The Law, for instance, requires
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Speaker 1: us to love God, to love our neighbor, to be meek, humble,
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Speaker 1: or holy. We feel that we are not sufficient for
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Speaker 1: these things. Yea that with man this is impossible. But
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Speaker 1: we see a promise of God to give us that
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Speaker 1: love and to make us humble, meek and holy. We
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Speaker 1: lay hold of this gospel, of these glad tidings. It
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Speaker 1: is done unto us according to our faith, and the
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Speaker 1: righteousness of the law is fulfilled in us through faith
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Speaker 1: which is in Christ Jesus. We may yet further observe
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Speaker 1: that every command in Holy writ is only a covered promise.
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Speaker 1: For by that solemn declaration, this is the covenant I
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Speaker 1: will make after those days, saith the Lord. I will
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Speaker 1: put my laws in your minds and write them on
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Speaker 1: your hearts. God hath engaged to give whatsoever he commands.
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Speaker 1: Does he command us then to pray without ceasing, to rejoice, evermore,
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Speaker 1: to be holy as He is holy. It is enough
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Speaker 1: He will work in us this very thing. It shall
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Speaker 1: be unto us according to His word. But if these
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Speaker 1: things are so, we cannot be at a loss what
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Speaker 1: to think of those who, in all ages of the
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Speaker 1: Church have undertaken to change or supersede some commandments of God,
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Speaker 1: as they professed by the peculiar direction of his spirit.
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Speaker 2: Christ has here.
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Speaker 1: Given us an infallible rule whereby to judge of all
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Speaker 1: such pretensions. Christianity, as it includes the whole moral love
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Speaker 1: of God, both by way of injunction and of promise,
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Speaker 1: if we will hear him, is designed of God to
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Speaker 1: be the last of all his dispensations. There is no
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Speaker 1: other to come after this. This is to endure till
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Speaker 1: the consummation of all things. Of consequence, All such new
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Speaker 1: revelations are of Satan and not of God, And all
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Speaker 1: pretenses to another more perfect dispensation fall to the ground.
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Speaker 1: Of course, heaven and earth shall pass away, but this
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Speaker 1: word shall not pass away. Whosoever therefore shall break one
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Speaker 1: of these least commandments and shall teach men, so he
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Speaker 1: shall be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven.
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Speaker 1: But whosoever shall do and teach them the same shall
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Speaker 1: be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. Who what
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Speaker 1: are they that make the preaching of the law a
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Speaker 1: character of reproach? Do they not see on whom their
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Speaker 1: reproach must fall, on whose head it must light?
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Speaker 2: At last?
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Speaker 1: Whosoever on this ground despiseth us, despiseth him that sent us.
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Speaker 1: For did ever any man preach the law like him,
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Speaker 1: even when he came not to condemn but to save
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Speaker 1: the world, when he came purposely to bring life and
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Speaker 1: immortality to light through the Gospel? Can any preach the
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Speaker 1: law more expressly more rigorously than Christ does in these words?
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Speaker 1: And who is he that shall amend them? Who is
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Speaker 1: he that shall instruct the Son of God how to preach?
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Speaker 1: Who will teach him a better way of delivering the
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Speaker 1: message which he hath received of the Father. Whosoever shall
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Speaker 1: break one of these least commandments, or one of the
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Speaker 1: least of these commandments these commandments we may observe is
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Speaker 1: a term used by our Lord as equivalent with the
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Speaker 1: law or the law and the prophets, which is the
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Speaker 1: same thing, seeing the prophets added nothing to the law,
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Speaker 1: but only declared, explained, or enforced it as they were
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Speaker 1: by the Holy Ghost. Whosoever shall break one of these
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Speaker 1: least commandments, especially if it be done wilfully or presumptuously one.
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Speaker 1: For he that keepeth the whole law and thus offends
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Speaker 1: in one point is guilty of all the wrath of
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Speaker 1: God abideth on him, as surely as if he had
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Speaker 1: broken every one, so that no allowance is made for
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Speaker 1: one darling lust, no reserve for one idole, no excuse
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Speaker 1: for refraining from all besides and only giving way to
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Speaker 1: one bosom sin. What God demands is an entire obedience.
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Speaker 1: We are to have an eye to all His commandments.
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Speaker 1: Otherwise we lose all the labor we take in keeping
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Speaker 1: some and our poor souls. Forever and ever one of
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Speaker 1: these least, or one of the least of these commandments,
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Speaker 1: here is another excuse cut off, whereby many who cannot
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Speaker 1: deceive God miserably deceive their own souls. This sin saith
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Speaker 1: the sinner. Is it not a little one? Will not
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Speaker 1: the Lord spare me in this thing? Surely he will
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Speaker 1: not be extreme to mark this, since I do not
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Speaker 1: offend in the greater matters of the law. Vain hope,
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Speaker 1: speaking after the manner of men, we may term these
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Speaker 1: great and those little commandments, but in reality they are
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Speaker 1: not so. If we use propriety of speech, there is
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Speaker 1: no such thing as a little sin, every sin being
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Speaker 1: a transgression of the Holy and perfect Law and an
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Speaker 1: affront on the great majesty of Heaven. And shall teach
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Speaker 1: men so in some sense it may be said that
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Speaker 1: whosoever openly breaks any commandment teaches others the same. For example,
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Speaker 1: speaks and many times louder than precept. In this sense,
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Speaker 1: it is apparent every open drunkard is a teacher of drunkenness.
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Speaker 1: Every sabbath breaker is con teaching his neighbor to profane
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Speaker 1: the day of the Lord.
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Speaker 2: But this is not all.
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Speaker 1: An habitual breaker of the law is seldom content to
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Speaker 1: stop here. He generally teaches other men to do so too,
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Speaker 1: by word as well as example, especially when he hardens
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Speaker 1: his neck and hateth to be reproved. Such a sinner
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Speaker 1: soon commences an advocate for sin. He defends what he
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Speaker 1: is resolved not to forsake. He excuses the sin which
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Speaker 1: he will not leave, and thus directly teaches every sin
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Speaker 1: which he commits. He shall be called least in the
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Speaker 1: Kingdom of Heaven, that is, shall have no part therein.
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Speaker 1: He is a stranger to the Kingdom of Heaven which
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Speaker 1: is on earth. He hath no portion in that inheritance,
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Speaker 1: no share of that righteousness and peace and joy in
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Speaker 1: the Holy Ghost. Nor by consequence, can he have any
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Speaker 1: part in the glory which shall be revealed. But if
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Speaker 1: those who even thus break and teach others to break
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Speaker 1: one of the least of these commandments shall be called
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Speaker 1: least in the kingdom of Heaven, shall have no part
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Speaker 1: in the Kingdom of Christ and of God. If even
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Speaker 1: these shall be cast into outer darkness, where is wailing
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Speaker 1: and gnashing of teeth, then where will they appear? Whom
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Speaker 1: our Lord chiefly and primarily intends in these words, They who,
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Speaker 1: bearing the character of teachers sent from God, do nevertheless
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Speaker 1: themselves break his commandments YEA, and openly teach others so
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Speaker 1: to do, being corrupt both in life and doctrine. There
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Speaker 1: are of several sorts. Of the first sort, are they
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Speaker 1: who live in some wilful habitual sin. Now, if an
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Speaker 1: ordinary sinner teaches by his example, how much more a
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Speaker 1: sinful minister, even if he does not attempt to defend, excuse,
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Speaker 1: or extenuate his sin. If he does, he is a murderer. Indeed, YEA,
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Speaker 1: the murderer general of his congregation. He peoples the regions
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Speaker 1: of death. He is the choicest instrument of the Prince
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Speaker 1: of Darkness. When he goes, thence Hell from beneath is
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Speaker 1: moved to meet him at his coming, nor can he
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Speaker 1: sink into the bottomless pit without dragging a multitude after him.
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Speaker 1: Next to these are the good natured, good sort of
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Speaker 1: men who live an easy, harmless life, neither troubling themselves
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Speaker 1: with outward sin nor with inward holiness. Men who are
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Speaker 1: remarkable neither one way nor the other, neither for religion
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Speaker 1: nor irreligion, who are very regular in both public and private,
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Speaker 1: but do not pretend to be any stricter than their neighbors.
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Speaker 1: A minister of this kind breaks not one or a
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Speaker 1: few only of the least of the commandments of God,
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Speaker 1: but all the great and weighty branches of his law,
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Speaker 1: which relate to the power of Godliness, and all that
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Speaker 1: require us to pass the time of our sojourning in fear,
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Speaker 1: to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, to
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Speaker 1: have our loins always girt and our lights burning, to
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Speaker 1: strive or agonize to enter in at the straight gate.
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Speaker 1: And he teaches men so by the whole form of
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Speaker 1: his life and the general tenor of his preaching, which
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Speaker 1: uniformly tends to soothe those in their pleasing dream who
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Speaker 1: imagine themselves Christians, and are not to persuade all who
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Speaker 1: attend upon his ministry to sleep on and take their rest.
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Speaker 1: No marvel therefore, if both he and they that follow
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Speaker 1: him wake together in everlasting burnings. But above all these,
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Speaker 1: in the highest rank of the enemies of the Gospel
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Speaker 1: of Christ are they who openly and explicitly judge the
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Speaker 1: law itself and speak evil of the law. Who teach
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Speaker 1: men to break, lie, say, to dissolve, to loose, to
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Speaker 1: untie the upbla neation of not one only, whether of
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Speaker 1: the least or of the greatest, but all the commandments
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Speaker 1: at a stroke, Who teach without any cover in so
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Speaker 1: many words.
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Speaker 2: What did our Lord do with the law? He abolished it?
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Speaker 1: There is but one duty, which is that of believing
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Speaker 1: all commands are unfit for our times. From any demand
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Speaker 1: of the law, no man is obliged now to go
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Speaker 1: one step, to give away one farthing, to eat, or
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Speaker 1: omit one morsel. This is indeed carrying matters with a
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Speaker 1: high hand. This iswithstanding our Lord to the face and
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Speaker 1: telling him that he understood not how to deliver the
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Speaker 1: message on which he was sent. O Lord, lay not
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Speaker 1: this sin to their charge. Father, forgive them, for they
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Speaker 1: know not what they do. The most surprising of all
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Speaker 1: the circumstances that attend this strong delusion is that they
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Speaker 1: who are given up to it really believe that they
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Speaker 1: honor Christ by overthrowing his law, and that they are
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Speaker 1: magnifying his office while they are destroying his doctrine. Yea,
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Speaker 1: they honor him just as Judas did when he said,
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Speaker 1: Hail Master and kissed him. And he may as justly
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Speaker 1: say to every one of them, betrayest thou the son
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Speaker 1: of Man with a kiss. It is no other than
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Speaker 1: betraying him with a kiss, to talk of his blood
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Speaker 1: and take away his crown, to set light any part
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Speaker 1: of his law under pretense of advancing his gospel. Nor, indeed,
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Speaker 1: can any one escape this charge who preaches faith in
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Speaker 1: any such manner as, either directly or indirectly, tends to
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Speaker 1: set aside any branch of obedience, who preaches Christ so
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Speaker 1: as to disennal or weaken in any wise the least
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Speaker 1: of the commandments of God. It is impossible, indeed, to
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Speaker 1: have too high in esteem for the faith of God's elect.
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Speaker 1: And we must all declare, by grace, are ye saved
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Speaker 1: through faith, not of works? Lest any man should boast.
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Speaker 1: We must cry aloud to every penitent sinner believe in
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Speaker 1: the Lord Jesus Christ.
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Speaker 2: And thou shalt be saved.
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Speaker 1: But at the same time we must take care to
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Speaker 1: let all men know we esteem no faith but that
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Speaker 1: which worketh by love Galatians five six, And that we
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Speaker 1: are not saved by faith unless so far as we
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Speaker 1: are delivered from the power as well as the guilt
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Speaker 1: of sin. And when we say believe and thou shalt
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Speaker 1: be saved, we do not mean believe and thou shalt
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Speaker 1: step from sin to heaven without any holiness coming between
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Speaker 1: faith supplying the place of holiness. But believe and thou
22:45
Speaker 1: shalt be holy. Believe in the Lord Jesus, and thou
22:49
Speaker 1: shalt have peace and power to gather. Thou shalt have
22:52
Speaker 1: power from Him and whom thou believest, to trample sin
22:56
Speaker 1: under thy feet, power to love the Lord thy God
22:59
Speaker 1: with hither thy heart, and to serve him with all
23:02
Speaker 1: thy strength. Thou shalt have power by patient continuance in
23:06
Speaker 1: well doing, to seek for glory and honor and immortality.
23:11
Speaker 1: Thou shalt both do and teach all the commandments of God,
23:15
Speaker 1: from the least even to the greatest. Thou shalt teach
23:18
Speaker 1: them by thy life as well as thy words, and
23:22
Speaker 1: so be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever
23:26
Speaker 1: other way we teach to the Kingdom of Heaven to glory, honor,
23:30
Speaker 1: and immortality, be it called the way of faith or
23:34
Speaker 1: by any other name, it is in truth the way
23:37
Speaker 1: to destruction. It will not bring a man peace at
23:41
Speaker 1: the last. For thus saith the Lord. Verily, I say
23:45
Speaker 1: unto you that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness
23:49
Speaker 1: of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case
23:52
Speaker 1: enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. The scribes, mentioned so
23:57
Speaker 1: often in the New Testament as some of the most
23:59
Speaker 1: constant and vehement opposers of our Lord, were not secretaries
24:04
Speaker 1: or men employed in writing, only, as that term might
24:07
Speaker 1: incline us to believe.
24:09
Speaker 2: Neither were they lawyers.
24:11
Speaker 1: In our common sense of the word, although the word
24:14
Speaker 1: nomi koi is so rendered in our translation. Their employment
24:19
Speaker 1: had no affinity at all to that of a lawyer.
24:21
Speaker 1: Among us, they were conversant with the laws of God,
24:25
Speaker 1: and not with the laws of man.
24:28
Speaker 2: These were their study.
24:29
Speaker 1: It was their proper and peculiar business to read and
24:32
Speaker 1: expound the law and the prophets, particularly in the synagogues.
24:37
Speaker 1: They were the ordinary stated preachers among the Jews, so
24:41
Speaker 1: that if the sense of the original word was attended to,
24:44
Speaker 1: we might render it the divines. For these were the
24:48
Speaker 1: men who made divinity their profession, and they were generally,
24:52
Speaker 1: as their name literally imports, men of letters, men of
24:56
Speaker 1: the greatest account for learning, that were then in the
24:59
Speaker 1: Jewish nation. The Pharisees were a very ancient sect or
25:03
Speaker 1: body of men among the Jews, originally so called from
25:07
Speaker 1: the Hebrew word for rash, which signifies to separate or divide.
25:13
Speaker 1: Not that they made any formal separation from or division
25:17
Speaker 1: in a national church. They were only distinguished from others
25:21
Speaker 1: by greater strictness of life, by more exactness of conversation,
25:26
Speaker 1: For they were zealous of the law in the minutest points,
25:29
Speaker 1: paying tithes of mint annis and cumen, and hence they
25:33
Speaker 1: were had in honor of all the people, and generally
25:36
Speaker 1: esteemed the holiest of men. Many of the scribes were
25:40
Speaker 1: of the sect of the Pharisees. Thus Saint Paul himself,
25:44
Speaker 1: who was educated for a scribe, first at the University
25:48
Speaker 1: of Tarsus and after that in Jerusalem at the feet
25:51
Speaker 1: of Gamaliel, one of the most learned scribes or doctors
25:54
Speaker 1: of the law, that were then in the nation, declares
25:57
Speaker 1: of himself before the council, I am a pharisee, the
26:01
Speaker 1: son of a pharisee, Acts twenty three, verse six. And
26:05
Speaker 1: before King Agrippa, after the straightest sect of our religion,
26:09
Speaker 1: I lived a pharisee, Acts twenty six five. And the
26:13
Speaker 1: whole body of the scribes generally esteemed and acted in
26:16
Speaker 1: concert with the pharisees. Hence we find our saviors so
26:20
Speaker 1: frequently coupling them together, as coming in many respects under
26:25
Speaker 1: the same consideration. In this place they seem to be
26:28
Speaker 1: mentioned together as the most eminent professors of religion, the
26:33
Speaker 1: former of whom were accounted the wisest, the latter the
26:37
Speaker 1: holiest of men. What the righteousness of the scribes and
26:41
Speaker 1: pharisees really was is not difficult to determine. Our Lord
26:46
Speaker 1: has preserved an authentic account, which one of them gave
26:49
Speaker 1: of himself, and he is clear and full in describing
26:53
Speaker 1: his own righteousness, and cannot be supposed to have omitted
26:56
Speaker 1: any part of it. He went up, indeed, into the
27:00
Speaker 1: temple to pray, but was so intent upon his own
27:03
Speaker 1: virtues that he forgot the design upon which he came.
27:07
Speaker 1: For it is remarkable he does not properly pray at all.
27:11
Speaker 1: He only tells God how wise and good he was. God.
27:15
Speaker 2: I thank THEE that I.
27:16
Speaker 1: Am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or
27:21
Speaker 1: even as this publican. I fast twice in the weak.
27:25
Speaker 1: I give tithes of all that I possess. His righteousness
27:29
Speaker 1: therefore consisted of three parts. First, saith he I am
27:34
Speaker 1: not as other men are. I am not an extortioner,
27:38
Speaker 1: not unjust, not an adulterer, not even as this publican. Secondly,
27:44
Speaker 1: I fast twice in the week.
27:47
Speaker 2: And thirdly, I.
27:48
Speaker 1: Give tithes of all that I possess. I am not
27:52
Speaker 1: as other men are. This is not a small point.
27:55
Speaker 1: It is not every man that can say this. It
27:59
Speaker 1: is as if he had said, I do not suffer
28:01
Speaker 1: myself to be carried away by that great torrent custom.
28:05
Speaker 1: I live not by custom, but by reason, not by
28:09
Speaker 1: the examples of men, but the word of God. I
28:12
Speaker 1: am not an extortioner, not unjust, not an adulterer. However
28:17
Speaker 1: common these sins are even among those who are called
28:20
Speaker 1: the people of God. Extortion, in particular a kind of
28:25
Speaker 1: legal injustice not punishable by any human law, the making
28:29
Speaker 1: gain of another's ignorance or necessity, having filled every corner
28:34
Speaker 1: of the land. Nor even as this publican not guilty
28:38
Speaker 1: of any open or presumptuous sin, not an outward sinner,
28:42
Speaker 1: but a fair, honest man, of blameless life and conversation.
28:47
Speaker 1: I fast twice in the week. There is more implied
28:51
Speaker 1: in this than we may at first be sensible of
28:54
Speaker 1: all the stricter Pharisees observed the weekly fasts, namely, every
28:59
Speaker 1: Monday and Thursday. On the former day they fasted in
29:02
Speaker 1: memory of Moses receiving on that day, as their tradition
29:06
Speaker 1: taught the two Tables of Stone written by the finger
29:10
Speaker 1: of God, on the latter, in memory of his casting
29:13
Speaker 1: them out of his hand when he saw the people
29:16
Speaker 1: dancing round the golden calf. On these days they took
29:20
Speaker 1: no sustenance at all till three in the afternoon, the
29:24
Speaker 1: hour at which they began to offer up the evening
29:26
Speaker 1: sacrifice in the temple. Till that hour, it was their
29:30
Speaker 1: custom to remain in the temple in some of the corners, apartments,
29:34
Speaker 1: or courts thereof, that they might be ready to assist
29:38
Speaker 1: at all the sacrifices, and to join in all the
29:41
Speaker 1: public prayers. The time between they were accustomed to employ
29:45
Speaker 1: partly in private addresses to God, partly in searching the scriptures,
29:50
Speaker 1: in reading the law, in the prophets, and in meditating thereon.
29:55
Speaker 1: Thus much is implied in I fast twice in the week,
29:59
Speaker 1: the second brand of the righteousness of a Pharisee, I
30:04
Speaker 1: give tithes of all that I possess. This the Pharisees
30:07
Speaker 1: did with the utmost exactness. They would not accept the
30:11
Speaker 1: most inconsiderable thing, No, not mint Annis and Kumen. They
30:16
Speaker 1: would not keep back the least part of what they
30:18
Speaker 1: believed properly to belong to God, but gave a full
30:22
Speaker 1: tenth of their whole substance yearly, and of all their
30:25
Speaker 1: increase whatsoever it was, yea the stricter Pharisees, as has
30:30
Speaker 1: been often observed by those who are versed in the
30:33
Speaker 1: ancient Jewish writings, not content with giving one tenth of
30:37
Speaker 1: their substance to God in his priests and levites, gave
30:40
Speaker 1: another tenth to God in the poor, and that continually
30:45
Speaker 1: they gave the same proportion of all they had in
30:47
Speaker 1: alms as they were accustomed to give in tides, And
30:51
Speaker 1: this likewise they adjusted with the utmost exactness, that they
30:55
Speaker 1: might not keep back any part, but might fully render
30:58
Speaker 1: unto God the thing which were gods.
31:01
Speaker 2: As they accounted this.
31:02
Speaker 1: To be, so that upon the whole they gave away,
31:06
Speaker 1: from year to year an entire fifth of all that
31:09
Speaker 1: they possessed. This was the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees,
31:15
Speaker 1: a righteousness which in many respects went far beyond the
31:19
Speaker 1: conception which many have been accustomed to entertain concerning it.
31:23
Speaker 1: But perhaps it will be said it was all false
31:26
Speaker 1: and feigned, for they were all a company of hypocrites.
31:30
Speaker 1: Some of them, doubtless, were men who had really no
31:33
Speaker 1: religion at all, no fear of God or desire to
31:37
Speaker 1: please Him, who had no concern for the honor that
31:40
Speaker 1: cometh of God, but only for the praise of men.
31:44
Speaker 2: And these are they whom.
31:45
Speaker 1: Our Lord so severely condemns, so sharply reproves on many occasions.
31:51
Speaker 1: But we must not suppose because many Pharisees were hypocrites,
31:55
Speaker 1: therefore all were so, nor indeed as hypocrisy by any
31:59
Speaker 1: means essential to the character of a Pharisee. This is
32:03
Speaker 1: not the distinguishing mark of their sect. It is rather this,
32:07
Speaker 1: According to our Lord's account, they trusted in themselves that
32:11
Speaker 1: they were righteous and despised others. This is their genuine badge.
32:17
Speaker 1: But the pharisee of this kind cannot be a hypocrite.
32:21
Speaker 1: He must be, in the common sense sincere. Otherwise he
32:25
Speaker 1: would not trust in himself that he is righteous. The
32:29
Speaker 1: man who was here commending himself to God unquestionably thought
32:33
Speaker 1: himself righteous. Consequently, he was no hypocrite. He was not
32:38
Speaker 1: conscious to himself of any insincerity. He now spoke to
32:42
Speaker 1: God just what he thought, namely that he was abundantly
32:46
Speaker 1: better than other men. But the example of Saint Paul,
32:51
Speaker 1: were there no other, is sufficient to put this out
32:54
Speaker 1: of all question. He could not only say when he
32:58
Speaker 1: was a Christian herein de do I exercise myself to have
33:02
Speaker 1: always a conscience void of offense toward God and toward men,
33:06
Speaker 1: Acts twenty four sixteen. But even concerning the time when
33:10
Speaker 1: he was a pharisee, men and brethren, I have lived
33:13
Speaker 1: in all good conscience before God until this day Acts
33:17
Speaker 1: twenty three, verse one. He was therefore sincere when he
33:21
Speaker 1: was a Pharisee as well as when he was a Christian.
33:25
Speaker 1: He was no more a hypocrite when he persecuted the
33:28
Speaker 1: church than when he preached the faith which once he persecuted.
33:32
Speaker 2: Let this then be added.
33:34
Speaker 1: To the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, a sincere
33:38
Speaker 1: belief that they are righteous and in all things doing
33:41
Speaker 1: God's service. And yet except your righteousness, saith, our Lord
33:48
Speaker 1: shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. Ye
33:51
Speaker 1: shall in no case enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.
33:55
Speaker 1: A solemn and weighty declaration, and which it behooves all
33:59
Speaker 1: who are called by the name of Christ seriously and
34:02
Speaker 1: deeply to consider. But before we inquire how our righteousness
34:07
Speaker 1: may exceed theirs, let us examine whether at present we
34:10
Speaker 1: come up to it. First, a Pharisee was not as
34:15
Speaker 1: other men are in externals. He was singularly good?
34:20
Speaker 2: Are we so?
34:21
Speaker 1: Do we dare to be singular at all? Do we
34:24
Speaker 1: not rather swim with the stream? Do we not many
34:28
Speaker 1: times dispense with religion and reason together because we would
34:31
Speaker 1: not look particular? Are we not often more afraid of
34:35
Speaker 1: being out of the fashion than of being out of
34:38
Speaker 1: the way of salvation? Have we courage to stem the tide,
34:42
Speaker 1: to turn counter to the world, to obey God rather
34:45
Speaker 1: than man. Otherwise the Pharisee leaves us behind at the
34:49
Speaker 1: very first step. It is well if we overtake him anymore.
34:55
Speaker 1: But to come closer, can we use his first plea
34:58
Speaker 1: with God, which is in substance. I do no harm,
35:02
Speaker 1: I live in no outward sin. I do nothing for
35:05
Speaker 1: which my own heart condemns me.
35:07
Speaker 2: Do you not? Are you sure of that?
35:10
Speaker 1: Do you live in no practice for which your heart
35:13
Speaker 1: condemns you? If you are not an adulterer, if you
35:17
Speaker 1: are not unchaste, either in word or deed, are you
35:20
Speaker 1: not unjust? The grand measure of justice, as well as
35:24
Speaker 1: of mercy is do unto others as thou wouldst they
35:28
Speaker 1: should do unto thee. Do you walk by this rule?
35:32
Speaker 1: Do you never do unto any what you would not
35:35
Speaker 1: they should do unto you?
35:37
Speaker 2: Nay?
35:37
Speaker 1: Are you not grossly unjust? Are you not an extortioner?
35:41
Speaker 1: Do you not make a gain of anyone's ignorance or necessity,
35:45
Speaker 1: neither in buying nor selling. Suppose you are engaged in trade,
35:50
Speaker 1: do you demand do you receive no more than the
35:54
Speaker 1: real value of what you sell? Do you demand? Do
35:57
Speaker 1: you receive no more of the ignorant than of the
36:00
Speaker 1: knowing of a little child, than of an experienced trader.
36:05
Speaker 1: If you do, why does not your heart condemn you?
36:08
Speaker 1: You are a bare faced extortioner. Do you demand no
36:12
Speaker 1: more than the usual price of goods of any who
36:14
Speaker 1: is in pressing want, who must have, and that, without
36:18
Speaker 1: delay the things which you only can furnish him with.
36:22
Speaker 2: If you do, this is also flat extortion.
36:26
Speaker 1: Indeed, you do not come up to the righteousness of
36:28
Speaker 1: a pharisee. A pharisee, secondly, to express his sense in
36:34
Speaker 1: our common way, used all the means of grace, as
36:38
Speaker 1: he fasted often, in much twice in every week. So
36:41
Speaker 1: he attended all the sacrifices. He was constant in public
36:46
Speaker 1: and private prayer, and in reading and hearing the scriptures?
36:50
Speaker 1: Do you go so far as this? Do you fast
36:53
Speaker 1: much and often twice in the week? I fear not
36:57
Speaker 1: once at least on all Fridays in night. So our
37:01
Speaker 1: Church clearly and peremptorily enjoins all her members to do
37:05
Speaker 1: to observe all these, as well as the vigils and
37:08
Speaker 1: the forty days of lent as days of fasting or abstinence?
37:12
Speaker 2: Do you fast twice in the year?
37:14
Speaker 1: I am afraid some among us cannot plead even this.
37:18
Speaker 1: Do you neglect no opportunity of attending and partaking of
37:22
Speaker 1: the Christian sacrifice? How many are they who call themselves
37:26
Speaker 1: Christians and yet are utterly regardless of it? Yet do
37:30
Speaker 1: not eat of that bread or drink of that cup?
37:33
Speaker 1: For months perhaps years together? Do you every day either
37:38
Speaker 1: hear the scriptures or read them and meditate thereon? Do
37:42
Speaker 1: you join in prayer with the Great congregation daily if
37:46
Speaker 1: you have opportunity, if not, whenever you can, particularly on
37:51
Speaker 1: that day which you remember to keep it holy? Do
37:54
Speaker 1: you strive to make opportunities? Are you glad when they say,
37:58
Speaker 1: unto you, we will go into the house of the Lord?
38:02
Speaker 1: Are you zealous of and diligent in private prayer? Do
38:06
Speaker 1: you suffer no day to pass without it? Rather, are
38:10
Speaker 1: not some of you so far from spending therein with
38:13
Speaker 1: the Pharisee several hours in one day that you think
38:16
Speaker 1: one hour full enough, if not too much? Do you
38:21
Speaker 1: spend an hour a day or in a week in
38:23
Speaker 1: praying to your Father which is in secret? Yea an
38:27
Speaker 1: hour in a month have you spent one hour together
38:30
Speaker 1: in private prayer? Ever since you was born? Ah, poor Christian,
38:35
Speaker 1: shall not the Pharisee rise up in the judgment against
38:38
Speaker 1: thee and condemn thee? His righteousness is far above thine,
38:43
Speaker 1: as the heaven is above the earth.
38:46
Speaker 2: The Pharisee thirdly paid.
38:48
Speaker 1: Tithes and gave alms of all that he possessed, and
38:52
Speaker 1: in how ample a manner, so that he was, as
38:55
Speaker 1: we phrase it, a man that did much good.
39:00
Speaker 2: Up to him here?
39:01
Speaker 1: Which of us is so abundant as he was in
39:04
Speaker 1: good works? Which of us gives a fifth of all
39:07
Speaker 1: his substance to God, both of the principle and of
39:10
Speaker 1: the increase, Who of us, out of suppose and hundred
39:14
Speaker 1: pounds a year gives twenty to God and the poor out.
39:18
Speaker 2: Of fifty ten?
39:20
Speaker 1: And so in a larger or a smaller proportion. When
39:24
Speaker 1: shall our righteousness, in using all the means of grace,
39:28
Speaker 1: in attending all the ordinances of God, in avoiding evil
39:31
Speaker 1: and doing good, equal at least the righteousness of the
39:35
Speaker 1: scribes and Pharisees, Although if it only equaled theirs, what
39:40
Speaker 1: would that profit? For? Verily, I say unto you, except
39:45
Speaker 1: your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees,
39:49
Speaker 1: ye shall in no case enter into the Kingdom of heaven.
39:53
Speaker 1: But how can it exceed theirs? Wherein does the righteousness
39:57
Speaker 1: of a Christian exceed that of a scribe or fair pari?
40:01
Speaker 1: Christian righteousness exceeds theirs first in the extent of it.
40:06
Speaker 1: Most of the Pharisees, though they were rigorously exact in
40:09
Speaker 1: many things, yet were emboldened by the traditions of the
40:13
Speaker 1: elders to dispense with others of equal importance. Thus they
40:17
Speaker 1: were extremely punctual in keeping the fourth commandment. They would
40:21
Speaker 1: not even rub an ear of corn on the Sabbath day,
40:24
Speaker 1: but not at all in keeping the third, making little
40:28
Speaker 1: account of light or even false swearing, so that their
40:32
Speaker 1: righteousness was partial. Whereas the righteousness of a real Christian
40:36
Speaker 1: is universal. He does not observe one or some parts
40:40
Speaker 1: of the Law of God and neglect the rest, but
40:44
Speaker 1: keeps all his commandments, loves them, all, values them above
40:48
Speaker 1: gold or precious stones. It may be, indeed, that some
40:53
Speaker 1: of the scribes and Pharisees endeavored to keep all the commandments,
40:57
Speaker 1: and consequently were as touching the righteous leusness of the law,
41:01
Speaker 1: that is, according to the letter of it, blameless. But still,
41:06
Speaker 1: the righteousness of a Christian exceeds all this righteousness of
41:09
Speaker 1: a scribe or pharisee, by fulfilling the spirit as well
41:13
Speaker 1: as the letter of the law, by inward as well
41:16
Speaker 1: as outward obedience. In this, in the spirituality of it,
41:21
Speaker 1: it admits of no comparison. This is the point which
41:25
Speaker 1: our Lord has so largely proved in the whole tenor
41:28
Speaker 1: of this discourse. Their righteousness was external. Only Christian righteousness
41:34
Speaker 1: is in the inner man.
41:36
Speaker 2: The pharisee cleansed the.
41:38
Speaker 1: Outside of the cup in the platter, the Christian is
41:41
Speaker 1: clean within. The pharisee labored to present God with a
41:44
Speaker 1: good life, the Christian with a holy heart.
41:48
Speaker 2: The one shook.
41:49
Speaker 1: Off the leaves, perhaps the fruits of sin. The other
41:53
Speaker 1: lays the axe to the root, as not being content
41:56
Speaker 1: with the outward form of Godliness, how exactsoever it be,
42:00
Speaker 1: unless the life, the spirit, the power of God unto
42:03
Speaker 1: salvation be felt in the inmost soul. Thus, to do
42:09
Speaker 1: no harm, to do good, to attend the ordinances of God,
42:13
Speaker 1: the righteousness of a pharisee are all external, whereas on
42:17
Speaker 1: the contrary, poverty of spirit, mourning, weakness, hunger and thirst
42:22
Speaker 1: after righteousness, the love of our neighbor, and purity of heart,
42:27
Speaker 1: the righteousness of a Christian are all internal, and even
42:31
Speaker 1: peacemaking or doing good and suffering for righteousness sake stand
42:37
Speaker 1: entitled to the blessings annexed to them only as they
42:40
Speaker 1: imply these inward dispositions, as they spring from exercise and
42:45
Speaker 1: confirm them. So that, whereas the righteousness of the Scribes
42:49
Speaker 1: and Pharisees was external only, it may be said in
42:53
Speaker 1: some sense that the righteousness of a Christian is internal only,
42:58
Speaker 1: all his actions and sufferings being as nothing in themselves,
43:02
Speaker 1: being estimated before God only by the tempers from which
43:06
Speaker 1: they spring. Whosoever, therefore thou art, who bearest the holy
43:12
Speaker 1: and venerable name of a Christian, see first that any
43:16
Speaker 1: righteousness fall not short of the righteousness of the Scribes
43:19
Speaker 1: and Pharisees. Be not thou, as other men are, dare
43:24
Speaker 1: to stand alone to be against example, singularly good. If
43:29
Speaker 1: thou follow a multitude at all, it must be to
43:32
Speaker 1: do evil. Let not custom or fashion be thy guide,
43:37
Speaker 1: but reason and religion. The practice of others is nothing
43:41
Speaker 1: to thee. Every man must give an account of himself
43:45
Speaker 1: to God. Indeed, if thou canst save the soul of another,
43:49
Speaker 1: do but at least save one thy own. Walk not
43:54
Speaker 1: in the path of death, because it is broad, and
43:57
Speaker 1: many walk therein. Nay, by this very token thou mayest
44:01
Speaker 1: know it is the way wherein thou now walkest a broad,
44:05
Speaker 1: well frequented, fashionable way. Then it infallibly leads to destruction.
44:11
Speaker 1: O be not thou damned for company. Cease from evil,
44:15
Speaker 1: fly from sin as from the face of a serpent.
44:18
Speaker 1: At least do no harm. He that committeth sin is
44:22
Speaker 1: of the devil. Be not thou found in that number
44:26
Speaker 1: touching outward sins. Surely the grace of God is even
44:30
Speaker 1: now sufficient for thee herein at least exercise thyself to
44:35
Speaker 1: have a conscience void of offense toward God and toward men. Secondly,
44:41
Speaker 1: let not thy righteousness fall short of theirs with regard
44:44
Speaker 1: to the ordinances of God. If thy labor or bodily
44:48
Speaker 1: strength will not allow of thy fasting twice in the week, however,
44:52
Speaker 1: deal faithfully with thy own soul, and fast as often
44:56
Speaker 1: as thy strength will permit omit no public no pride,
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Speaker 1: that opportunity of pouring out thy soul in prayer, Neglect
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Speaker 1: no occasion of eating that bread and drinking that cup,
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Speaker 1: which is the communion of the body in the blood
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Speaker 1: of Christ. Be diligent in searching the scriptures, read as
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Speaker 1: thou mayest, and meditate therein day and night. Rejoice to
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Speaker 1: embrace every opportunity of hearing the word of reconciliation declared
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Speaker 1: by the ambassadors of Christ, the stewards of the mysteries
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Speaker 1: of God, in using all the means of grace, in
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Speaker 1: a constant and careful attendance on every ordinance of God,
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Speaker 1: live up to at least till thou canst go beyond
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Speaker 1: the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. Thirdly, fall not
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Speaker 1: short of a pharisee in doing good. Give alms of
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Speaker 1: all thou dost possess. Is any hungry, feed him, is
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Speaker 1: he a thirst Give him drink naked, cover him with
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Speaker 1: a garment. If thou hast this world's good goods, do
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Speaker 1: not limit thy beneficence to a scanty proportion. Be merciful
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Speaker 1: to the uttermost of thy power. Why not, even as
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Speaker 1: this Pharisee. Now make thyself friends, while the time is
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Speaker 1: of the mammon of unrighteousness, that when thou failest, when
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Speaker 1: this earthly tabernacle is dissolved, they may receive THEE into
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Speaker 1: everlasting habitations. But rest not here. Let thy righteousness exceed
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Speaker 1: the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. Be not thou
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Speaker 1: content to keep the whole law and offend in one point.
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Speaker 1: Hold thou fast to all His commandments and all false ways.
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Speaker 1: Do thou utterly abhor do all the things whatsoever he
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Speaker 1: hath commanded, And that with all thy might thou canst
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Speaker 1: do all things through Christ, strengthening THEE, though without.
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Speaker 2: Him thou canst do nothing.
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Speaker 1: Above all, Let thy righteousness exceed theirs in the purity
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Speaker 1: and spirit victuality of it. What is the exactest form
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Speaker 1: of religion to thee, the most perfect outside righteousness. Go
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Speaker 1: thou higher and deeper than all this. Let thy religion
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Speaker 1: be the religion.
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Speaker 2: Of the heart.
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Speaker 1: Be thou poor in spirit, little and base and mean
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Speaker 1: and vile in thine own eyes amazed and humbled to
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Speaker 1: the dust at the love of God which is in Christ. Jesus,
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Speaker 1: thy Lord, be serious. Let the whole stream of thy thoughts, words,
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Speaker 1: and works be such as flows from the deepest conviction,
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Speaker 1: that thou standest on the edge of the great gulf.
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Speaker 1: Thou and all the children of men, just ready to
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Speaker 1: drop in, either into everlasting glory or everlasting burnings, be meek.
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Speaker 1: Let thy soul be filled with mildness, gentleness, patience, long
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Speaker 1: suffering toward all men. At the same time that all
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Speaker 1: which is in thee is athirst for God, the Living God,
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Speaker 1: longing to awake up after his life likeness and to
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Speaker 1: be satisfied with it. Be thou a lover of God
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Speaker 1: and of all mankind. In this spirit, do and suffer
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Speaker 1: all things thus exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees,
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Speaker 1: and thou shalt be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.
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Speaker 1: End of Section twenty five.